Last Thursday at the Montreal Convention Centre, Infopresse held the Boomerang conference for the Web industry.
The program was loaded with inspiring presentations, notably by Kevin Slavin, professor at MIT Media Lab, and Hilary Mason, Bit.ly Chief Data Scientist, who shared original perspectives on issues associated with the dangerous rise of algorithms and with big data. Many leaders of Montreal agencies dealing with digital had the opportunity to share their expertise with colleagues in a series of conferences and « master classes. »
had the privilege to be associated with MosaiC HEC Montréal as a content partner of this get-together for the makers and shakers of the Web and to design a workshop on co-creation and collaboration in the digital age. Co-presented with Laurent Simon, renowned professor in the management of creativity and innovation, the workshop was launched with a slight provocation: « The Web is dead. »
The premise for such a statement is not as much a reference to the technical death of the Web announced in 2010 Wired magazine as a realization that, in the digital age, it has become antiquated to speak of the Web as a media like television and print. The Web, and more braodly the Internet, are so ubiquitous in all aspects of contemporary life that they form an integral part of the real word, of which they are but an extension.
The workshop thus proposed a reflection on the Web and the role of digital in the economic development of Quebec, but in analog mode. It mobilized collective intelligence with the help of paper, post-its, markers, pipe cleaners and LEGO bricks. During a way too short hour, participants set aside tablets and smartphones, abandoned facebook friends and twitter followers in order to meet new colleagues, to share ideas and talk about the future. Together, they elaborated a few dozen projects, prototyped and pitched eight of them.
With just a bit more time and efforts, we may almost have changed the world.
Retour sur Boomerang la conférence from Infopresse on Vimeo.